


All That Glitters

by ghostgarden



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship/Love, slight romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-27 13:14:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6286117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostgarden/pseuds/ghostgarden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summer nights spent cooped up in a stuffy old watchtower were starting to get to Charlotte's head. While he was no wealthy nobleman, she had Benny to vent to, at the very least.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All That Glitters

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy!! This is the first piece of writing I've posted online in a long time. This fic is fluffy, and a bit romantic, if you squint. I hope you enjoy ^ ^

Summer nights were quiet and stagnant- not nearly as unforgiving as the heat of the midday, but even after the sun retreated in the sky, the air hung like a humid, wet blanket. It clung to one’s forehead and clothes, procuring beads of sweat that were pointless to wipe away as they would appear again moments later. 

The only observable noises were the distant muffled cacophonies of crickets, and the occasional clink of armor as Charlotte shifted uncomfortably at her post. Her arms were crossed in a sort of indignant stance, her fingernails drumming against her upper arm impatiently. She hated this goddamn post. She hated how it smelled of mold, how stale the air felt even as she leaned against a window, how isolated it was from the parties that were definitely being held on a night such as this one. Chewing her bottom lip, her eyes glazed over as she pictured in her mind the pleasures of a Nohrian summer festival— the tantalizing jam-filled pastries dashed with sugar, the handsome men just as sweet, the jovial sound of a violin paired with rhythmic clapping hands and stamping feet…

It was too much.

“Dammit, Benny! I can’t take this anymore.”

Benny, her hulking rock of a partner, turned his head to her in surprise as she kicked a pebble out of frustration. It ricocheted off of the armor covering his shin with a dull ping, echoing about in the stony watchtower before coming to rest at his feet.

“What do you mean, Charlotte?” His eyes were like that of a basset hound’s as he tilted his head ever so slightly, shifting on the puny wooden stool he sat upon. It looked like it was ready to give out at any moment under his weight.

“What do I mean?” Charlotte clicked her tongue incredulously. “What do you mean, what do I mean? Look around!” She huffed and leaned against the stone wall behind her. “We’re in the middle of nowhere, away from everyone, away from the action, outta sight, outta mind. We might as well be dead, sitting out here and rotting away in this place.” Her fingers drummed even faster.

Benny grunted in a sort of sardonic amusement, the rough-set corners of his mouth twitching upwards ever so slightly. He passed his lance from one hand to the other thoughtfully as he digested her words.

“We do play a part, though. In a way.”

“You mean as meatshields? Shitty little pawns?” Charlotte scoffed and continued her rant. “As benchwarmers? We’re no main event out here.” Her eyes flitted down to the battle axe at her side, cast aside hours ago to lay forlorn on the dusty floor. “And to think I was a member of the Royal Guard, actually doing something, before being demoted to this… this…” Her voice trailed off as she mumbled unintelligibly before going silent altogether.

It had come as a swift blow to her pride, being knocked down from her seemingly untouchable position as a member of Nohr’s Royal Guard. The pay was great, and she had been able to support her family back home without problem. Being able to be close to the Royal family like she had, close enough to almost taste their seemingly lackadaisical lifestyle of expensive clothes, fine wines, and finer company… 

Alas, as her life had shown her time and time again, all good things had to come to an end at some point. She had let herself go, her fragile feminine facade attracting the concern of her superiors who deemed her unfit for the Guard’s line of work.

“I just wish,” she muttered defeatedly, “that I could feel proud of what I was doing, like I’m not wasting my time.”

Benny nodded wordlessly, empathizing with her words. His eyes, an icy shade of muted blue, implored her to continue.

“I know I’m qualified for the Guard, and that’s what kills me. Forget this border post, where all I have to worry about is the occasional straggling Hoshidan soldier. I could, like, totally crush a tree with my hands if I wanted to.” She flexed her arm as if to add punctuality to her words. “No, I could crush two trees— one for each hand.” Benny’s smile returned to his face and he crossed his legs, resting his elbow on his knee and his chin in his palm. She was off and running again.

“Like hell I’d let people see me like that, though... what sort of handsome nobleman in his right mind would fall in love with a bloody-knuckled hooligan, picking splinters out of her hands…” Charlotte’s eyes met Benny’s soft ones, as if probing for an answer.

Benny’s shoulders rose and fell with a sigh. How many times had they had a conversation like this, up in this lonely post? He had lost count. “Heh, I’m probably the wrong person to ask, Charlotte… I’m neither handsome, nor am I a nobleman. I wouldn’t know.” 

Charlotte’s eyes softened a little. “Aw, Benny, darling…” His eyebrow quirked at that term of endearment. “I’m not rooting around for you to degrade yourself, it was a hypothetical statement.” She curled a blonde lock of hair around her finger, looking away. 

Benny paused before continuing. “I’m no nobleman, so I couldn’t tell you what they look for in a woman…” He shifted again on his stool. “But if I were to choose between the two Charlottes, I choose the one in front of me.”

Charlotte’s bright eyes blinked, both in surprise and in slight perplexity. “Why, Benny!” She placed a hand on her chest in a sort of mock-shock. “I think I get what you mean, but at the same time, it’s kind of evading me.”

Benny chuckled quietly, a sort of warm, low rumble that betrayed his gruff outward appearance. “What I mean, is... well… you know, Charlotte.” He dug the toe of his boot into the dust sheepishly. “There’s the Charlotte that laughs in a straining high voice, and does the baby talk when she sees a handsome person…” Charlotte pouted her lip, but didn’t retort.

“I mean, the Charlotte that got you booted from the Guard. The one that cried fake tears in the face of danger. And then there’s the other Charlotte, the one standing here with me right now.”

Charlotte’s shoulders relaxed, and she listened curiously— for someone so quiet and unsociable, Benny was unusually perceptive. 

“The other Charlotte is honest… honest and strong.” As he spoke, he took to gazing out of the small sentry window, watching the long grass far below occasionally bend to the night breeze. “She knows what she wants, is unafraid to admit it, and she’s driven by her desires.”

He continued his little speech. “It’s interesting… she looked at the one man the rest of the army was afraid of, and saw someone different from the rumors they told. Out of all of the people to drop the mask around… she chose me. I’m humbled, and yet... it confuses me. I don’t mind the company of an honest, strong, driven woman. I think other people wouldn’t mind seeing her, either.”

If it weren’t for the darkness of the tower light, a very faint blush could’ve been seen on Charlotte’s face. Stoic Benny, a man of few words, speaking of her so openly like this? 

“B-but… It’s not feminine or attractive to act all brash and dirty, you know?” Charlotte paced over to the side of the window, turning her face away to catch the next nightly breeze (and ensure that Benny didn’t see her cheeks dusted pink). “You’re probably the only person I know that thinks that someone like me could be considered honest…”

“Hmph…” Benny watched her as she stood at the window, the moonlight glowing soft on her features. She really was beautiful, with her cascading hair illuminated a faint honey yellow…

“I can’t change your mind,” he started, “on how you view yourself. But if you ask me, even if I’m just a border guard… you’re perfect the way you are.” 

Charlotte merely hummed in reply, though a faint smile tugged at her lips. 

“Also…” Benny lifted his lance into his lap, pulling an old, stained rag from his pocket. He began to clean the tip of the lance absentmindedly. “Being a border guard… isn’t so bad. If you think about it, we are on the front lines…” His eyes wandered back to Charlotte, gazing out the window. “Hoshidan territory isn’t too far from here, seeing as we’re at the edge of the kingdom.”

“I guess.”

“And has a Hoshidan soldier ever gotten past us?”

“I don’t think so.”

“So that’s it, then. We save a Nohrian every time we sit out here.” He scrubbed a little harder into his lance. “There’s no shame in protecting people, be it under the title of Royal Guard, or border guard.”

Several silent minutes passed between the two as Charlotte digested his words. Perhaps Benny was right, despite how lonely it sometimes felt letting these nights pass her by. No, she wasn’t at a summer festival, fraternizing and winning the hearts of the wealthy. She wasn’t a Guard, but a guard, with a lowercase ‘g’, an anonymous force at a distant border. 

But…

She slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder, casting a genuinely soft look at Benny on his stool. He met her gaze, parting his chapped lips as if to say something more before his eyes flitted away shyly. 

If she could be here, with someone who she didn’t have to put on an act for, who believed in her… 

“Hey, Benny?”

He looked back up at her face quizzically, his fingers knitting together gingerly in his lap. “What is it, Charlotte?”

“Thank you.”


End file.
